We may be a makeup brand, but this makeup brand openly and proudly supports the equal expression of all individuals. The Reckless ethos is about embracing (completely and unapologetically) your beauty, no matter your gender, race, disability etc.
After working with one of our amazing brand ambassadors, James Joe Boyle, we had our eyes opened to the effect that not captioning content can have on the whole community.
Often, people can make the mistake of not realising that their content excludes a huge population of viewers. 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound!
“Facebook has built a video system that encourages watching without sound: Videos autoplay in the news feed and are muted by default. But for publishers, that number underscores the importance of creating videos that can be understood without sound, using captions or text that narrate what’s happening on the screen.” (American Press Institute)
Good captioning apps include:
- Mixcaptions
- Clipomatic
- Amara
- Zubtitle
- AutoCap (android)
- Otter (longer videos)
Android's Live Caption is apparently unbeatable and people are waiting for Apple to adopt the feature. (C’mon Apple!)
You can find many more resources on www.deafpower.me and @jamesjoeboyle Instagram reels are great resources to learn about the deaf community too.
While we make content accessible for deaf people to increase virality, it’s also important to keep content accessible for those with visual impairments.
Alt Text tells people what is in an image, such as text or basic essential details. If an image fails to load, Alt Text will display in its place. Search engines also index Alt Text information and consider it a factor when determining search engine ratings.
Do you have Alt Text enabled on platforms where you are sharing visual content yet?
Quick reminder: If deaf people can caption their content so hearing people can understand, then hearing people can do the same.
Make a change with your content today and choose to be inclusive. Brands are starting to be more considerate but there is much we can all be doing on our personal accounts too!
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